The motto of the Estonian Book Year is A People Begins with a Book. Inspired by this, the 2025 Prima Vista Literary Festival will focus on the literary mapping and interpretation of Tartu, Estonia, and various places worldwide. Through literature, places become more visible and perceptible, gaining meaning and value. Translations help written places find their place on the world map of different cultures.

New, imagined places are also born in literature: places of memory, refuge, and fantasy. The world expands through poetry and imagination, utopias and dystopias — both in the content of books and in their form and structure. Every book is itself a place or a gateway to a new place, and upon returning, you become more aware of your place in this world.

In one way or another, most of the festival's events focus on places within books and on books themselves as places. 

According to writer Kai Aareleid, who is the patron of this year's festival, Prima Vista provides an opportunity to meet people who are overshadowed by books in their everyday lives.

"In order to make sense of (this year's theme) you have to come to Tartu and experience the festival. There are so many different ways of making sense of it, you can make sense of it in one way, or you can make sense of the other. I think what's really charming about Prima Vista is that when you find a title, you start to build a program around that title. The role of the patron is to make connections," explains Aareleid.

In addition to the literary program, the festival also includes plenty of music and art.

The Year of the Estonian Book is reflected in this year's program by the higher than usual number of guests from Latvia. "This year, both Latvians and Estonians are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the first book in Estonian. Another aspect is the local literature related to the title," said Aareleid.

Aareleid hopes that, in addition to the program itself, the festival will also offer plenty of surprises. "You can see part of the story in the program, but many things are born on the spot. It's like a theatrical performance that only happens once and never in this context," said Aareleid.

The festival patron added that Prima Vista provides the chance to meet the people behind the books. "We meet the books, but we don't meet the people behind the books, the translators or the authors. From the audiences' side, I can say that it is always enormously interesting to hear what people have to say about their books," said Aareleid.

The full program for the 2025 Prima Vista festival in Tartu is available here.

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